Celts call on the Druids to dispel insidious blood Magic. Post Game

[ParticleMan]

Good road win. Love the composure and late game execution. Kept turnovers low and did a better job drawing fouls.

But in the bigger picture it's concerning how our offense has sputtered against ORL's pressure. OKC also plays this kind of sticky, physical D, and to an extent CLE too. If we revert to iso basketball most of the time we're gonna be roadkill because those teams are not inept at offense like ORL.

Our bench also needs to pick up some of the scoring slack. Just like last year, PP and Hauser have wilted offensively in the face of tough pressure D. Kornet too. They can't be nonfactors if we want to beat the good teams.

[jonige94]

This team is really poorly coached offsensively, luckily we have the talent to overide it.

But I don't think we stand a chance against Cleveland/OKC,

Hopefully I'm wrong

[ThePigeon]

This team is really poorly coached offsensively, luckily we have the talent to overide it.

But I don't think we stand a chance against Cleveland/OKC,

Hopefully I'm wrong

OKC's offense relies on suffocating defense and running. They run on every possession for easy fast break or transition baskets. They can be stopped if you force them to play slower (it isn't easy, but possible). You can also attack their defense by penetration and passing. We went head to head with them in the two losses (first one we weltered, but I think it was a fluke as we won the first round by a large margin). CLE is more potent offensively, especially Mitchel in 1 on 1 situations in the 4th. Very difficult to stop. But they are more limited on defense.

IND will take care of CLE IMO. OKC is a different thing.

Joe does not impose offense, but we saw some development and counters in last night's game.
More rolling, more cutting, plays designed for KP's dunks, even some out of TO plays (the KP for and 1 was crucial to give us 94-91 advantage). Attack inside if they close the 3pt shot. And they don't help which opens the paint

It is not as if we are ORL. We have a good chance to win it all

[phincsfan]

All I want for Christmas is Jrue Holiday healthy and back in the line-up ASAP !

[brackdan70]

60 minutes from our bench (Pritchard, Hauser, Kornet), only 6 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists combined.
Joe you are getting paid to coach this team, not stand around and walk back and forth. Make some adjustments to the bench already.
Happy for the win. But this series could easily be 2-2.

Our bench can use an enforcer or even one physical player.

Hauser was solid this game. Pritchard worked really hard on D and was disruptive. His box +/- was +11. Kornet seems to be struggling a bit to handle the increased intensity.

[Gant]

Some series are like this. Jaylen Brown's injury really hurts, as the reliability of him punching in by power sweeping over his defender is taken away. Having that weapon would have opened up the offense.

Speaking of offense, the Magic D performed well against the Boston dynamo all year. The Cs only had one good scoring game vs Orlando. Suggs and both Wagners were missing for that one. They just have the secret sauce to match up well.

The 2025 Celtics had the 4th best offensive rating in NBA history. They had the fifth best scoring differential in franchise history. Boston is really well coached on both ends. Orlando is just a rare exception in being able to cover them straight up, thereby limiting three point looks. It won't matter because it will still probably be a five game series, in which case this isn't much different from last year's first round matchup vs the Heat.

The next round will look different. The Knicks are good, but have holes in their defense. I'm glad it won't be Indiana. Too bad about not being able to keep Nesmith.

As far as playing other people, It's not going to be Davison, Walsh or hobbled Tillman. That leaves rookie Scheierman, Queta (who is less predictable than Kornet), or Torrey Craig. Maybe one of those guys would surprise, but they could surprise in either direction.

It was good to see Hauser hit a few. Horford is amazing. Tatum looks great. White made big plays. Porzingis is pleasantly unusual.

Go Celtics!

[tfribs45]

60 minutes from our bench (Pritchard, Hauser, Kornet), only 6 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists combined.
Joe you are getting paid to coach this team, not stand around and walk back and forth. Make some adjustments to the bench already.
Happy for the win. But this series could easily be 2-2.

Our bench can use an enforcer or even one physical player.

Hauser was solid this game. Pritchard worked really hard on D and was disruptive. His box +/- was +11. Kornet seems to be struggling a bit to handle the increased intensity.

bench has been terrible besides PP, and he's even struggling to get going.....Joe needs to give another guy a shot. The lineup with Hauser, PP and Kornet all at once is part of the reason why we're struggling. I'd swap Queta for Korny and roll the dice, we've been so badddd at the rim. Zinger lets them walk down the paint, Big Dawg Al is the only CTR resisting down low! Time to mix it up, it's worth a shot. The Magic have done a great job taking away the three like no other team has vs the C's. Celts need to keep making them pay in the paint.....

[Red2]

Pritchard got abused in game 4. He needs to bounce back in game 5 but he may be too small

[Red2]

Jd might be better in this series. Torrey craig def needs some minutes

[Red2]

Jd might be better in this series. Torrey craig def needs some minutes

[Fierce1]

Thats not true.
KP shooting and kicking out ratio both seasons been around 50%

You said cutting.

KP kicks it out, but he rarely passes to cutters.

We seldom use cutters
KP had one great pass to cutting White for and1
We should run of these

KP as the rolling man to the dunker was good use of struggling KP for easy baskets
I just don't know why we stopped using it

Not disagreeing with the idea of cutters.

But from what I saw since last season, when KP wants to score, he rarely passes.

Usually 3 things happen when KP gets the ball and he's in attack mode.

1. He shoots and scores.

2. He gets fouled.

3. He shoots and misses the shot.

[playa-hater]

Pritchard got abused in game 4. He needs to bounce back in game 5 but he may be too small

Most of us seem to think PP held up quite well on defense. Not sure what you watched.

[31to6]

60 minutes from our bench (Pritchard, Hauser, Kornet), only 6 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists combined.
Joe you are getting paid to coach this team, not stand around and walk back and forth. Make some adjustments to the bench already.
Happy for the win. But this series could easily be 2-2.

Our bench can use an enforcer or even one physical player.

Hauser was solid this game. Pritchard worked really hard on D and was disruptive. His box +/- was +11. Kornet seems to be struggling a bit to handle the increased intensity.

bench has been terrible besides PP, and he's even struggling to get going.....Joe needs to give another guy a shot. The lineup with Hauser, PP and Kornet all at once is part of the reason why we're struggling. I'd swap Queta for Korny and roll the dice, we've been so badddd at the rim. Zinger lets them walk down the paint, Big Dawg Al is the only CTR resisting down low! Time to mix it up, it's worth a shot. The Magic have done a great job taking away the three like no other team has vs the C's. Celts need to keep making them pay in the paint.....

ORL plays the Jays straight up. Everyone else in the league auto-doubles Tatum almost every possession (and sometimes/frequently Brown). That's where our ball-movement-to-open-3s offense mostly originates, IMO. So during this series, based on the way ORL is defending, Pritchard and Hauser's scoring are among the casualties. But don't blame them and start sifting around the bench thinking other guys will do better -- IMO ORL is staying home on Hauser and Pritchard, allowing the Jays more room to drive when they do. And sometimes they take bail-out jumpers, but I believe throughout the series they've also increased their # of drives (haven't stat-checked this) and they've certainly gotten a lot of FTs out of it.

Give Scheierman Sam's minutes and he might make one or two nifty moves off of the perimeter, and that's cool, but he's not going to hold up as well on the other end, and I'd bet you'd be losing ground in terms of +/-. Sam and Pritchard were both + double digits last night because the spacing they provide opens up offense for others, and they mostly held up defensively.

[tfribs45]

Hauser was solid this game. Pritchard worked really hard on D and was disruptive. His box +/- was +11. Kornet seems to be struggling a bit to handle the increased intensity.

bench has been terrible besides PP, and he's even struggling to get going.....Joe needs to give another guy a shot. The lineup with Hauser, PP and Kornet all at once is part of the reason why we're struggling. I'd swap Queta for Korny and roll the dice, we've been so badddd at the rim. Zinger lets them walk down the paint, Big Dawg Al is the only CTR resisting down low! Time to mix it up, it's worth a shot. The Magic have done a great job taking away the three like no other team has vs the C's. Celts need to keep making them pay in the paint.....

ORL plays the Jays straight up. Everyone else in the league auto-doubles Tatum almost every possession (and sometimes/frequently Brown). That's where our ball-movement-to-open-3s offense mostly originates, IMO. So during this series, based on the way ORL is defending, Pritchard and Hauser's scoring are among the casualties. But don't blame them and start sifting around the bench thinking other guys will do better -- IMO ORL is staying home on Hauser and Pritchard, allowing the Jays more room to drive when they do. And sometimes they take bail-out jumpers, but I believe throughout the series they've also increased their # of drives (haven't stat-checked this) and they've certainly gotten a lot of FTs out of it.

Give Scheierman Sam's minutes and he might make one or two nifty moves off of the perimeter, and that's cool, but he's not going to hold up as well on the other end, and I'd bet you'd be losing ground in terms of +/-. Sam and Pritchard were both + double digits last night because the spacing they provide opens up offense for others, and they mostly held up defensively.

I hear ya, I'm def not messing with PP's minutes, he's exceeded expectations and is an important piece for sure. Sam has been meh on and off all season and he's butter on D. Korny could easily be swapped out with Queta, no way he should be a lock in our rotation. He's has cement in his shoes all series long

[Fierce1]

Both Banchero and Wagner tried to play with their back to the basket against PP.

But PP won't budge.

At the very least, PP was solid on defense.

[Half-Full]

Pritchard got abused in game 4. He needs to bounce back in game 5 but he may be too small

Most of us seem to think PP held up quite well on defense. Not sure what you watched.

Particularly as he was frequently having to guard Banchero and Wagner. Despite the size disparity, Pritchard did a commendable job guarding them. Abused? I don't think so.

[ConstableGeneva]

Pritchard got abused in game 4. He needs to bounce back in game 5 but he may be too small

Most of us seem to think PP held up quite well on defense. Not sure what you watched.

Particularly as he was frequently having to guard Banchero and Wagner. Despite the size disparity, Pritchard did a commendable job guarding them. Abused? I don't think so.

My only issue with him so far in this series is he's unable to hold his ground for a boxout/defensive rebound (he's great at offensive rebounding 'cos he can sneak in and crash). The fouling/reaching doesn't bother me as much.

[phincsfan]

Magic did a great job shutting down the 3 from PP. He went from 8 3pa a game regular season to a total of 2 the last two games. No way can he get in a groove.

I liked the wrinkle Joe used with having JT and JB on the court with PP and Sam. That would open things up for PP and Sam a little more. Usually only one of JT or JB are out there with them. Not having Jrue was probably a main reason, but I'd like to see that next game.

Vegas is betting against the C's bench. Would be nice to see them blow that up game 5.

[ConstableGeneva]

via Mike Zarren:
"We have incredible traveling fans everywhere but tonight was the best I’ve ever seen for Cs fans on the road during the playoffs. LOVE it. The team hears you! Let’s gooooo! ☘️ #differenthere"

[bisme37]

A tough win on the road against a tough team. I’ll take it.

Thank you a bunch for making the thread. I was having a rough one. Should be back to myself for the thread tomorrow night. Go C's!